Mr O'CONNOR (10:47 PM) —Tonight I wish to raise the workplace situation of three workers in my electorate who are front-line victims of John Howard's regressive industrial relations system. These workers are three ordinary Geelong blokes who gained employment in a new high technology malting plant owned and operated by a firm called Doosan Malting. They are all highly skilled workers who welcomed the opportunity to work in a modern plant in their local community close to their families. As I speak in this parliament tonight, the three workers maintain a picket line outside Doosan Malting in defence of their jobs, their wages and their conditions of employment.

All workers, in a couple of hours time, face John Howard's Workplace Relations Act, which seeks to strip them of their award conditions. It is timely to reflect on the situation of the Doosan workers and what is in store for others in the Geelong work force as the clock runs past midnight. For these workers, John Howard's promise that they would be no worse off and that their award conditions would be preserved has proved to be one big lie. Many workers are of the view that a promise made is one that ought to be kept, but as far as this Prime Minister and this government are concerned the workers of Australia know that they have been comprehensively betrayed.

When these workers were employed, they went through an extensive interview process and medical tests. They received job offers from the company and they were told that their conditions of employment would be given to them later. On the first day of their employment, they were instructed to sign a trainee agreement with an out of town company called Goulburn Murray Group Training. Although employed as trainees, some workers undertook the supervision and training of casual employees hired at the malting plant while never receiving any of the normal training afforded other workers categorised as trainees and employed by local Geelong group trainers.

Some seven months after being employed, and after numerous requests of management to reach agreement on their conditions of employment, they finally sighted an employment agreement prepared by Doosan. This offered a flat rate of $15 per hour, a seven-day roster and no overtime or leave loading. In addition, these trainee workers, who had received no training from Goulburn Murray Group Training, were being called on to do call-ins in the middle of the night, with no supervision, for two hours pay and no rest breaks at all. After attempting to negotiate for better conditions, the company offered the workers individual contracts. They offered them John Howard's workplace agreements. Some of the workers concerned called upon their union to be their bargaining unit in negotiations and have been sacked for their trouble.

The simple facts of the matter are these: the workers concerned want no more than to work with dignity for a fair day's pay. They have been employed under questionable procedures and conditions and, where they have insisted on their legal right to bargain collectively and to be represented by their union, they have certainly paid a heavy price. This is the reality of John Howard's industrial relations promised land. The workers of Geelong have rallied to support them, and they have received strong guidance and support from their unions and the Geelong Trades Hall Council. My call tonight is to all workers in Geelong to support this picket. It is not a picket that has received great publicity in the national media, it is not a picket of the size of the MUA picket on the Melbourne waterfront, but it is a symbolic picket and one which represents much to Geelong workers.

As the clock runs past midnight tonight, the Howard government wants to strip away the award conditions of many workers. I am indebted to the member for Barton (Mr McClelland) for listing some of those awards that are being stripped away: for example, the obligation to notify employees and consult on the introduction of technological or workplace change; the requirement for discussions to take place prior to redundancies; employees not to be given notice of termination while on authorised leave; the requirement to provide employees with a statement of employment on termination; provision that a termination of employment shall not be harsh, unjust or unreasonable; provision in relation to sexual or racial harassment; the requirement to provide a first aid kit—(Time expired)

Mr SPEAKER —Before I call the honourable member for Lilley, I would like to introduce two young ladies to the House, Ms Renee Conroy and Ms Belinda Brooks, who are students of high schools in the electorate of the honourable member for Lilley.